Lunges are too!
[quote]kellyc wrote:
I would way rather have a Power Rack than a Smith Rack, BUT, the Smith Rack gets way too bad a rapp on this site. If you do lunges, try 'em on the Smith. No, don’t call me a sissy. Try it then talk.[/quote]
Sissy.
One good exercise I do on the Smith- calf raises.
Manhattan Health Club in Harvey/Marrero, La. But Katrina has probably wrecked them, deservedly so.
A few years ago my wife and I joined. It was a VERY nice facility with child care, a women’s only section, and great equipment. I had reservations about the whole thing, and the weights being upstairs with no platform was a red flag, but a chance to workout with my wife overcame my doubts. I also had my normal military base gym to fall back on. I also figured I would do upper body and assistance, and maybe some squats. I asked about heavy weights, chalk, and all the other problems usually associated with health clubs, and was assured it was all good.
One year later they pulled my wife aside at renewal time and told her she was welcome back but I was not. I find the weasel manager, a 165lb bodybuilder in pressed silk pants and a starched button down shirt, whose hair was perfect, and inquire about his problem with me. He relays that my heavy lifting and grunting, sweating, and outfits do not attract the element they are marketing to correctly. I should have known that from the start, but the gym had also recently had hosted most of the pros for the USA that year, and those freaks and their groupies put on a show of open drug use, sexual acts, and plain obnoxious behavior that rivals an NBA franchise. I asked him if that appealed to his target market. I hinted at going to the local paper or police about the drugs and sex acts and demanded my money back, but settled for a free 6 months for my wife.
Never again. It is military bases (going downhill actually) or hardcore gyms only for me.
Lunges on a smith, dear oh dear. Why waste time and effort taking a great exercise like a lunge and then compromise its impact by doing it under a smith. Unfortunately for us the large coorporate gym chains which sprout up everywhere killing the smaller independants believe that free weights are dangerous. I would love to sit down with these people and go one on one as they try and justify this misconception.
[quote]jackreape wrote:
Manhattan Health Club in Harvey/Marrero, La. But Katrina has probably wrecked them, deservedly so.
A few years ago my wife and I joined. It was a VERY nice facility with child care, a women’s only section, and great equipment. I had reservations about the whole thing, and the weights being upstairs with no platform was a red flag, but a chance to workout with my wife overcame my doubts. I also had my normal military base gym to fall back on. I also figured I would do upper body and assistance, and maybe some squats. I asked about heavy weights, chalk, and all the other problems usually associated with health clubs, and was assured it was all good.
One year later they pulled my wife aside at renewal time and told her she was welcome back but I was not. I find the weasel manager, a 165lb bodybuilder in pressed silk pants and a starched button down shirt, whose hair was perfect, and inquire about his problem with me. He relays that my heavy lifting and grunting, sweating, and outfits do not attract the element they are marketing to correctly. I should have known that from the start, but the gym had also recently had hosted most of the pros for the USA that year, and those freaks and their groupies put on a show of open drug use, sexual acts, and plain obnoxious behavior that rivals an NBA franchise. I asked him if that appealed to his target market. I hinted at going to the local paper or police about the drugs and sex acts and demanded my money back, but settled for a free 6 months for my wife.
Never again. It is military bases (going downhill actually) or hardcore gyms only for me.[/quote]
I can't think of a better compliment that manager could have given you than to imply you were too big, mean and hardcore for his gym.
BTW, the gym at NSA Millington just got upgraded and they've got the whole power rack area redone. They turned it 90 degrees so it is inconvenient for the squat curlers and stretchers.
Famine
[quote]Famine wrote:
I can't think of a better compliment that manager could have given you than to imply you were too big, mean and hardcore for his gym.
BTW, the gym at NSA Millington just got upgraded and they've got the whole power rack area redone. They turned it 90 degrees so it is inconvenient for the squat curlers and stretchers.
Famine[/quote]
Famine,
i am training at Millington now, MTThF at about 5. One of two guys who will be obvious.
jack
[quote]littlejimmy wrote:
Lunges on a smith, dear oh dear. Why waste time and effort taking a great exercise like a lunge and then compromise its impact by doing it under a smith. Unfortunately for us the large coorporate gym chains which sprout up everywhere killing the smaller independants believe that free weights are dangerous. I would love to sit down with these people and go one on one as they try and justify this misconception.[/quote]
I don’t need to ask. I know, you never tried it.
[quote]jackreape wrote:
Manhattan Health Club in Harvey/Marrero, La. But Katrina has probably wrecked them, deservedly so.
A few years ago my wife and I joined. It was a VERY nice facility with child care, a women’s only section, and great equipment. I had reservations about the whole thing, and the weights being upstairs with no platform was a red flag, but a chance to workout with my wife overcame my doubts. I also had my normal military base gym to fall back on. I also figured I would do upper body and assistance, and maybe some squats. I asked about heavy weights, chalk, and all the other problems usually associated with health clubs, and was assured it was all good.
One year later they pulled my wife aside at renewal time and told her she was welcome back but I was not. I find the weasel manager, a 165lb bodybuilder in pressed silk pants and a starched button down shirt, whose hair was perfect, and inquire about his problem with me. He relays that my heavy lifting and grunting, sweating, and outfits do not attract the element they are marketing to correctly. I should have known that from the start, but the gym had also recently had hosted most of the pros for the USA that year, and those freaks and their groupies put on a show of open drug use, sexual acts, and plain obnoxious behavior that rivals an NBA franchise. I asked him if that appealed to his target market. I hinted at going to the local paper or police about the drugs and sex acts and demanded my money back, but settled for a free 6 months for my wife.
Never again. It is military bases (going downhill actually) or hardcore gyms only for me.[/quote]
The former owner of the last gym I worked out at actually kicked out the squat world record holder. Kicked him out for being intimidating. The guys impressive but not intimidating. Worse of all it was a Gold’s Gym.
Last I heard she’s out and he’s back in.
[quote]
Smith Machine Good Mornings are the second worst idea I have ever heard of. I do like them for lunges, however.[/quote]
The worst would be… Smith Machine Curls?
Jackreape,
Are you relocated up there by Katrina? Im a Reservist but I work at NPC on drill weekends and I saw some new guys doing deads and benchpressing when I was there on AT last month. There were 3 guys working together when I was there, mid September, a shorter, real strong guy and two taller guys.
If that was you I was very impressed. Both by the deads and the board presses. I don't see anyone doing that kind of work in there (at least not with that kind of weight). I'll be back up there next month. If I see you in there I will say hello.
Famine
[quote]jackreape wrote:
Never again. It is military bases (going downhill actually) or hardcore gyms only for me.[/quote]
Mine seems to be headed that way. I just got back and apparently they thought everyone’s chest was too small. We now have 7 flat bench press, 3 incline, 1 decline, 2 pec decs and a myriad of other hammer strengh chest machines. But there is only one power rack tucked away in a corner. The best part is on chest day I still usually have to wait for a bench.
[quote]BorisTheSpider wrote:
Oh Yeah![/quote]
Holy shit!! An escalator to enter a gym?? Oh yeah, I bet there are a bunch of hardcore lifters there.
[quote]kellyc wrote:
I’ve lunge-walked, lunged pushing back, done step-up lunges. I’ve lunged with dumbells, lunged with barbells and I reassert; no lunge beats a lunge on the Smith. It hits your gluts better and for athletics you can perform it more ballistically.
[/quote]
It probably hits your glutes better because, like with any other Smith machine exercise, you can probably use more weight due to the fact that all the stability work is taken out of the equation.
I would think that for athletes it is better for them to experience instability that you find by using dumbbells, BB etc. I know that if I do single leg exercises after any sort of break from doing them I usually start wobbling all over the place, but after a few weeks I am usually more stable, so I view them as being a great balance improvement tool.
I’m not sure if I would want to do ballistic lunges whilst being constrained to a vertical pathway, I think the only exercise you could do properly on a Smith is ballistic bench press. Something like jump lunges with a barbell would really help improve athletic ability.
[quote]msb222 wrote:
Smith Machine Good Mornings are the second worst idea I have ever heard of. I do like them for lunges, however.
The worst would be… Smith Machine Curls?[/quote]
You mean it is possible to do these exercises in Smith Machine? I have to see it to believe it.
Geek boy
[quote]bg100 wrote:
kellyc wrote:
I’ve lunge-walked, lunged pushing back, done step-up lunges. I’ve lunged with dumbells, lunged with barbells and I reassert; no lunge beats a lunge on the Smith. It hits your gluts better and for athletics you can perform it more ballistically.
It probably hits your glutes better because, like with any other Smith machine exercise, you can probably use more weight due to the fact that all the stability work is taken out of the equation.
I would think that for athletes it is better for them to experience instability that you find by using dumbbells, BB etc. I know that if I do single leg exercises after any sort of break from doing them I usually start wobbling all over the place, but after a few weeks I am usually more stable, so I view them as being a great balance improvement tool.
I’m not sure if I would want to do ballistic lunges whilst being constrained to a vertical pathway, I think the only exercise you could do properly on a Smith is ballistic bench press. Something like jump lunges with a barbell would really help improve athletic ability.[/quote]
For an athlete stability is great and should be trained but it is not more important than raw power. If an athlete is including split leg training in his program I would have him do free type lunges early in the training cycle then, in the later stages, advance to the Smith for lunges.
When I said “more balistically” I did not mean to say actually jumping. I just meant a faster, more explosive tempo. For lunges on the Smith, I recommend way to heavy weight to be able to jump.
When I trained for sports I would do my Smith Lunges with up to 275 lbs at 190 lb body weight. With a free bar I never could have moved anywhere near that weight.
[quote]Famine wrote:
Jackreape,
Are you relocated up there by Katrina? Im a Reservist but I work at NPC on drill weekends and I saw some new guys doing deads and benchpressing when I was there on AT last month. There were 3 guys working together when I was there, mid September, a shorter, real strong guy and two taller guys.
If that was you I was very impressed. Both by the deads and the board presses. I don't see anyone doing that kind of work in there (at least not with that kind of weight). I'll be back up there next month. If I see you in there I will say hello.
Famine[/quote]
Famine,
Yeah,
That was us most likely. We are Katrian refugees. I was the sensitive one. PM me for my email, and i will try to say hi. I travel a bit so let me know.
jack
How the hell do you do a lunge on a smith machine? A lunge is not a static exercise, its dynamic. If you stay on a vertical plane its not a lunge. Its a variation of a bulgarian squat/1 leg squat not a lunge.
[quote]PGA200X wrote:
How the hell do you do a lunge on a smith machine? A lunge is not a static exercise, its dynamic. If you stay on a vertical plane its not a lunge. Its a variation of a bulgarian squat/1 leg squat not a lunge.[/quote]
Whatever you want to call it. One leg in front one leg in back.
Any you guys heard of BUTT PUNCHES.
No Kidding
By the way I consider the removel of a power rack to be a felony that should be punished by Jail time. We here at T-Nation need to put a stop to these serious crimes
jsal33
[quote]Miserere wrote:
Finalyear wrote:
Man, thats so sad. The words she used. They’re going to “scrap it.” It’s just not right.
I feel you, man. When they “scrapped” the old weights room here at my uni (they’ve now built a new Sports Centre) they threw away all the old weights…and the squat rack.
They kept the Smith machine, though.
Bastards, the lot of them.[/quote]
Exactly the same situation with me! I loved my university’s power racks (I call it a cage, but whatever). The rest of the gym was shit and in a basement. I still live near my school (well, I owe them a thesis and my sister is a freshman there now) and they have a new gym several blocks down the street now.
Recently, I cut through that closed basement after doing some research at the library (late August, school not in session yet) and saw most of the old gym gutted out. Sadly, they did not take the two racks with them. They were more than happy to uproot the one Smith machine that used to be there, though.
Crappy gyms like my university’s make me appreciate paying for quality gyms more.